US troops in Kabul remember 9/11 and reflect on Afghan ‘progress’

AMERICAN soldiers in Kabul who witnessed the attack on the Pentagon paid tribute yesterday to victims of the 9/11 attacks.

“I remember throughout the devastation, throughout the horrible day, I remember that we still hung our American flag, and that is what I want to be written in the history books,” Staff Sergeant Alicia Watkins, 28, of Washington, DC, said after delivering an emotional speech at the main US base in Kabul.

The commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, said political progress has been made here since the Taliban was forced out, and predicted that a recent surge in violence wouldn’t derail reconstruction efforts.